The Western Derby - it's one of the fiercest most passionate fights to the death in modern sport where each side is as desperate to win as they are not to lose. Well, it used to be. As Fremantle sent yet another sub standard West Coast team from the ground humiliated and in tears, those that could still walk, it started to feel all a bit routine. Playing the Eagles has become a like solving a Rubik's Cube by removing the stickers and putting them on in the right order. It takes about the same amount of time but the result is inevitable. It's no less satisfying though.
Fremantle may have even given a few supporters a bit of a scare in the first quarter. The Dockers got off to a patchy start, with just a couple of goals scrounged from what appeared to be pity free kicks. Being behind on the scoreboard was a bit of a wake up call and Freo got their act together pretty quickly, sharpening up in the middle, kicking to blokes they knew and slotting a few goals.
It was the premiership quarter that they did the damage though, some of it on the scoreboard. They came out with a derby to win and by God, they won it. They put on a football clinic, running the luckier Eagles ragged and sending the unlucky ones back to the rooms.
The last quarter became little more than a victory lap as Fremantle broke any remaining spirit the Eagles may have had then put the queue in the rack as they prepared for the rest of their undefeated premiership season. Mick Barlow and David Mundy shared the Rosco Medal in controversial circumstance.
